Patriots offensive lineman Nate Solder, the team's newest player thanks to being selected No. 17 yesterday, stayed at his parent's bed-and-breakfast in Colorado during the draft. Cool. That allowed him to just hang out when them until he got chosen.

"I was sitting there hoping and praying that they pick me," Solder said yesterday, reacting to his name being called, "because that's such a great organization."

That wasn't all Solder had to say about joining the Patriots. Want a few more snippets?

Solder on missing just two plays in college: "I think that was an end of game situation. I think one of the backups was in there just to kneel the ball. It’s funny - when they told me I missed two snaps, I had to think about what the heck happened because I couldn't remember missing those two snaps. I’s a lot of hard work, too. Sometimes you don't control when freak things happen, so I've been blessed as well."

Solder, on the Patriots canceling his original visit: "I never came up for a visit. ... I don’t know exactly what happened. I was scheduled to visit. The minute before I left it was canceled. That's all I know. It was the day before I was going to go that they canceled. But there have been so many question marks going through my mind this whole process that I didn't even think anything of it."

Solder, on Patriots OL coach Dante Scarnecchia: "He’s an unbelievable coach, one of the best in the NFL and that was completely obvious when I met with him. And I look forward to the opportunity to play with him. All of those guys do great and Scarnecchia is an incredible coach and that’s absolutely part of it. I have a lot to work on and the great thing about that is that I'm a coachable player and Coach Scarnecchia and Coach Belichick and the whole staff is great to play for."

Solder, on blocking for QB Tom Brady: "You know, I think Tom Brady is a great quarterback and I think all my teammates are great players and I'm looking forward to the privilege of playing for the Patriots."

Solder, on moving from tight end to tackle: "My coaches came to me and told me I’d be an alright tight end, but a great tackle. That’s why I chose to move to tackle. It’s been a process. I have a lot to learn and that’s a great reason to have Bill Belichick and Scarnecchia coaching me.

Solder, on his workout with Scarnecchia: "It was not really exhaustive. But like I said, all the great things I heard about him were confirmed. I could tell he was an absolutely great coach and I was hoping and praying – though I didn’t want to put in my mind to go there, but I’m so honored to be there."

Solder, on competing with Matt Light and Sebastian Vollmer: "I have all the respect in the world for those guys. I know this: competition makes everyone better, so that’s going to be a great opportunity."